Whelmed
by LordOfTheBooks
Summary: All bats are immortal, right? Wrong. Everyone, yes, even the first Boy Wonder, meet their end eventually. But their legacy will always live on. I guess that means no one is ever truly whelmed.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, the real summary in that…I don't really have one. I guess you'll just have to read to find out. Yeah, yeah, I know that I have five other ongoing stories, but I had this idea for far too long and I couldn't help it! I also have like a billion other ideas, but I vowed to finish at least two more stories before writing another…I guess I'll just get on with it then.**

**Disclaimer: I really don't think this is necessary, but I don't want to get sued though…I don't own Young Justice.**

**Wait; wouldn't it be really funny if one of the writers of Young Justice started writing on fanfiction because his show got canceled? That would be so totally awesome! We could just read the rest of the series!**

_No. It can't be… _

I sat chained-up and shell shocked at the event taking place before me. This couldn't be happening. "_Stop it!" _I screamed.

The man before me smiled and said, "Stop what? This?" He brought his hammed up and hit Nightwing again causing him to give a small moan of discomfort. The mad man, known as Hetare, laughed at my distress. He was a recently discovered villain. I should have been more careful with this guy because I had never fought him before…and look where it got me. I was chained up and there was nothing I could do, and Dick was beaten to death, almost dead.

"Please, take me instead! Just don't hurt him anymore! I'll-I'll do anything!" I screamed desperately.

"Hmmm," he said considering my offer.

"B-batgirl, no," whispered Nightwing with difficulty.

Hetare glared at him with disgust written on his face. He hit Nightwing across the face with the hammer and said, "I wasn't talking to you, now was I Pretty Boy?" Nightwing lay motionless on the ground, not a sound coming from him. "As tempting as your offer is, I'll just have to pass. This is much too fun."

It literally felt like my heart was being ripped out of me as I watched Nightwing-Dick being beaten senselessly. I didn't even realize I was crying until I saw a drop of water hit the ground. I pulled and pulled in my bonds, but there was nothing I could do. "Stop it! You're going to kill him." Pretty soon my throat was too raspy to say anything else so the most I could manage was strangled whispers. All the while, I was picking the lock in my chains.

It took a long time-much too long-but finally, I was free. I didn't look at Dick and pushed my emotions aside for the moment. Hetare seemed to realize I was free and said, "Well, look at the time! It was fun, but I got to run…hey, that rhymed! Maybe I should become the Riddler! Oh, that's already tak-ugh!" He stopped talking as I yanked his shirt collar so that I was eye level with him. Suddenly, I heard this ticking sound and Hetare said, "I wouldn't stick around here for too much longer, girly. You see, this dive is going to become _so _ten minutes ago in about ten minutes from now. Now, I know you can survive the blast with your tricky bat ways, but are you so sure about your little friend? I suggest you let go of me and try to find your way out of this little underground labyrinth so Pretty Boy over there doesn't become some nice-tasting dog meat!"

Oh, I underestimated him. It would never happen again. As much as I wanted to pound his ugly face into his brain at that moment, he was right. I had to navigate my way out of the underground tunnels he had lured us in if I wanted to save Dick's life. But because the artificial tunnels moved because of some high-tech that I wasn't first aware of, I had no idea of which way was out.

"Time is ticking," he said in a singsong voice.

I growled as I threw him on the ground, grabbed Dick, and dragged him out of the room. He was unconscious, so there was nothing else I could really do. I was strong, but I didn't have super strength. If I carried him, I might have given out too early, so dragging was the only option.

I only took right turns, figuring that was the best course of action. I started to see a door in the distance. We'd be out of here before I knew it and four minutes to spare! Just before I reached the door to above the ground, two big metal walls slammed in front of me and behind me.

"Sorry Princess, but I just couldn't let you or Pretty boy escape," Hetare said over some sort of intercom.

I dropped Nightwing and banged on both doors for the life of me. "No! This can't be happening!"

I dropped to the ground and started sobbing. Three minutes left. I felt a hand grip my own, and looked to see Nightwing holding my hand with his.

"D-don't c-c-cry Ba-abs," he said. Blood leaked from his mouth as he said this. He turned over and started coughing blood on the ground.

I felt more tears well up in my eyes as I brought his face to mine. I peeled off his mask to look into his brilliant blue eyes. They usually looked so full of life, but in that moment they looked rather dull and filled with pain. "Dick," I whispered.

"B-Babs, I h-h-have to t-tell you someth-thing import-t-tant."

"Shhhh," I said as I stroke his face. "Everything's going to be okay. You're going to be okay and we'll be fine."

"I'm g-going to d-die," he said as if he was saying "It's going to be hot today," or "I'm eating cereal for breakfast today." It was started like a hard cold, perfect fact.

"No you're not," I said, although I knew it was true. My tears dripped onto his face as I said, "Dick, you're going to get out of this alive."

He ignored my words, and instead took off my cowl and smiled when he saw my face. "Y-you need to k-know. I n-n-n-need y-you to know th-that, Babs, I love you." He said it with perfect clarity and such conviction, that it only caused me to cry harder.

"Dick, I love you too," I said. I leaned down and kissed him. It didn't matter that he was covered in blood or not, I just had to. He tilted his head to deepen the kiss and cupped my face with his shaking hand.

We parted and I said once more, "I love you."

Ten seconds.

I held onto him like I could somehow shield him from the blast. Then the bomb went off. I was blasted back from the impact, but because I shielded myself with my cape, I was fine. However, I was blasted away from Dick and unable to protect him. I got a few nasty cuts and a real nasty gash in my leg that would need stitching, but other than that I was fine.

After the blast was over, I could see above ground. We were closer to the surface than we thought. I ran as fast as I could to Nightwing, and knelt by his side. I checked his pulse and felt nothing. "No," I said.

I quickly began to press on his chest, and do CPR. "Come on," I said. But he was gone.

I vaguely heard a motorcycle and other vehicles drive up to where the edge of the crater I was in, but I was too busy doing compressions and CPR or Dick to notice. "Come on, damn you!" I said. "Breath! Live!" I pounded on his chest as tears once again began to make themselves present. "You can't die on me, Grayson! I'll kill you for this! Please, just pop up and said this is one of your elaborate jokes!"

"Barbara!" strong arms began to pull me away from Dick, but I clawed at him, wanting to be by Dick's side.

I saw Damian out of the corner of my vision. His face held no emotion as he looked at Dick. But I knew that wasn't the case; Damian loved Dick like a brother, or even a father figure. He was much closer to Dick than he ever was to Bruce partly because Dick was the first one to believe in Damian. Dick was Damian's first real ally or friend he'd ever had.

All of a sudden, Damian leapt down into the rubble and sprinted to Dick's person. He bent down and felt for a heartbeat and checked his breathing. Damian gave a small gasp before he said, "_No, no, it can't be. _He'll-Dick will just jump up and say, gottcha, right? Because that's what he always does, right?"

I released myself from Bruce's grip and ran over to Damian. I threw my arms around him and pulled him close to me. Normally, Damian would throw me off saying things like how dare I and whatnot, but at that moment he accepted the hug and even hugged me back. "It's okay, it's okay," I whispered in his hair. "You're alright, shhh."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bruce bend down and pick up Dick. To anyone else, it would have looked like he was emotionless. But to me, he looked the maddest I had ever seen him in all my years as Batgirl. He brought Dick to the bat mobile and set him down in the front seat before driving off.

I wanted to collapse and just die, but I knew I had to be strong for Damian. Damian was closer to Dick than he was to anyone else in the world. As much as I was hurting, I had friends to get me by and through. Damian didn't have anyone else he had let in.

"Come on, Dami. Let's go back to the cave, okay?" I said. I didn't wait for an answer and put him on his motorcycle. I seated myself in front of him and drove it back to the cave. I felt his arms wrap around me and his head snuggle into my back. I chose not to comment, knowing it would only make him angry.

When we arrived at the cave, I practically jumped off the vehicle as I ran to the medical bay. Dick was lying on a bed with a white sheet placed over him. Batman was beside him, gripping the side of the bed, and clenching his teeth. As his face came into view, I saw that his cowl was down and angry tears were streaming down his face.

"_Leave," _he growled.

I stood my ground as Damian scowled, crossed his arms and said, "No."

"Sorry Bruce, but this is hard on all of us," I said.

"_Hard?!" _Bruce spat. "He was _my _son. You don't know what it's like, Barbara. You don't know what it's like to lose a child. I'll say it again; _leave."_

"You are being selfish right now!" screamed Damian. "How do you think _I _feel!? I talked to him more than you ever did! You didn't know him anymore! You just remember the little gypsy circus boy you adopted, but he was so much more! You couldn't see that, you thick-skulled idiot! I'm ashamed to call you my father! Dick was more of a father to me than _you _ever were!" Damian panted and crossed his arms. "I'm _not _leaving Grayson."

Normally, Bruce would erupt in rage, but Damian's words seemed to calm him. He gave the slightest of nods before Damian ran to Dick's side and fell on his knees.

"Barbara; inform Tim about Dick. He should know," said Bruce.

I gave a strangled sigh. I really didn't feel like talking to anyone right then. All I wanted to do was curl up by Dick and never leave his side, but I knew not to disobey Bruce after what happened.

I called Mount Justice on the video screen and Mal answered, "Hey Batgirl; what's the problem?"

"Is Red Robin there? It's urgent," I said briefly.

Mal nodded and called off scream, "Hey Red Rob! You got a caller!"

Tim appeared on scream, with his mask on, and said, "What is it, Batgirl?"

"Come to the cave now. It's Nightwing." With that, I hung up.

**Ω**

Barbara's words filled me with dread. What did she mean, _it's Nightwing? _

"What was that about?" asked M'gann as she walked into the room.

I was still mentally panicking about what she said. The last time this had happened, someone had died. But that couldn't be the case; Dick had earned the name "Boy Wonder" rightfully. He couldn't have died: that's not his style. I lied and said, "Don't worry, M'gann; I'm sure everything's fine."

She must have been reading my mind because she said, "I'm going with you."

She probably said something telepathically to Connor, because he walked in saying, "I'm going too."

I glared at them and said, "For all you know, this in a confidential Bat mission. You two know what happens when metas arrive in Gotham unannounced."

They shared a look before glaring at me and saying simultaneously, "We're going."

I knew no matter what I did, I couldn't persuade them otherwise and I really couldn't afford to waste time. We zetaed to the batcave and what I saw was the one thing I dreaded most.

"No," I said.

**Ω**

(Barbara's POV)

Timeless. That's the only way to describe the next few hours. Artemis and Wally showed up, and while Artemis was bawling, Wally was fighting mad, saying things like he was the worst best friend in the world. M'gann was crying too, while Connor was trying to comfort her but was pretty messed up himself. Somehow Jason found out came to the cave and started screaming at everyone, saying how it was their entire fault. Then he started screaming at me, saying that I was there with him, I could have saved him. I let him-after all, it was my fault.

"Barbara." I turned to see Batman behind me.

"Yes Bruce?"

"Follow me to the medical bay. Doctor Leslie is here to check on you."

"Bruce, I didn't get hurt in the blast; I'm perfectly fine," I said. I turned back around and faced the wall again.

"We don't know that for sure." With that, he turned around.

I sighed, and pried myself off the ground. I walked with heavy footsteps over to where Doctor Leslie was, right by Dick. As I looked at him, I felt tears well up in my eyes all over again. How could he just _die? _I had loved him…we never had made it official, but we'd been seeing each other on and off for years. Right then, I had never regretted anything more. Bruce, Damian, Alfred, Tim and Jason all knew of our complicated relationship, but as far as everyone else knew we just had the biggest amount of sexual tension in the world.

After Leslie ran a few tests and stitched up the gash on my leg, she came back and said, "Good news; the worse you have is a few cuts, bruises and that leg wound. You had quite an impact from the explosion, but I assure you, the baby's just fine."

The last three words confused me. "What do you mean 'the baby's just fine'?"

A confused look surfaces on Leslie's face before her eyes widened in surprise. "In that case, I'm happy to let you know that you are a few weeks pregnant with a child."

A child…it was Dick's.

**Ω**

"Wow…so, that's how Dad really died?"

Barbara looked at her 14-year-old son who-despite the red hair coloring-looked just like Dick had when he was that age. She nodded and said, "I spared you the details of everyone's overwhelming grief…especially my own. I figured that was boring and you wanted me to get to the good parts."

"All this time…how did Uncle Wally take it? I mean, from what you've told me, they weren't exactly on the best terms before Dad died."

Barbara sighed and said, "Wally…took it hard. Really hard. He constantly felt guilty that he and Dick weren't best buds when he passed. He-he was going to ask him to be his best man because he just got engaged to Artemis. It-it wasn't a happy time for anyone, really."

"Why now, though? All this time you could have told me how he really died, but you did now. Why?" he said.

Barbara smiled and said, "I figured you were ready. Besides; it's about time for all your training to pay off and you to uphold your father's legacy."

Alec, Barbara's son, sighed and said, "I wish I could have met him. He-he seemed pretty cool."

Barbara nodded, and put her head down, but not before Alec saw tears surfacing on her face. "Mom, what's wrong?" he asked gently.

Barbara waved him off and said, "I just miss him; your father, that is. He would have loved watching you grow up. You would have really liked him. In a lot of ways, you're just like him."

Alec hugged his mom and said, "Seems like a great guy. So, what did you about upholding my father's legacy?"

Barbara smiled and said, "I think it's time for the Robin mantel to go back to being a flying Grayson. I didn't have you trained by professional acrobats and Batman for nothing, you know." She opened her closet and pressed a secret button behind a coat she never wore. The back walls of the closet slid open and revealed an intact Robin and Batgirl suit. "I already made sure it would fit you. So what do you say? Are you overwhelmed?"

Alec smiled and said, "Overwhelmed, underwhelmed, I think whelmed is more like it."

**Okay, I have a few options:**

**Option 1: Leave it as a one-shot**

**Option 2: Continue, but leave Dick dead**

**Option 3: Continue, but somehow make Dick be alive **

**Alright, you saw it with your own retinas! Please review and leave me your thoughts! I'm going to mark this complete. For now…;) Please show your appreciation by reviewing your opinion and telling me what you think! CRITICISM and ADVICE are all very welcome. It makes me be a better writer. So, yeah, feel free to Review… and vote! **

**NOTE! PLEASE READ! **

**Whelmed: 1. whelmed When you're not overwhelmed, or underwhelmed. You're just neutral.**

**It is a word! It is! HA! I also read somewhere that it means to overcome all intruding emotions to complete a task. SO, that means a lot of people on fanfiction use the word wrong…I am determined to use it correctly. Robin almost always used it correctly…ALMOST. **


	2. NEW FOLLOW-UP STORY OUT!

**ANNOUNCMENT:**

**Okay, so I have a new story up called I Remember You, and it's a sort-of sequel to this. Please check it out! It's not option one two or three, but rather a combination of all of those…So I would ****_really _****appreciate it if you read it. What are you still doing here? Go read it!**


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